DataFEWSion: Preparing tomorrow’s food-energy-water systems experts

Iowa State is home to a new National Science Foundation traineeship program preparing the next generation of food-energy-water (FEW) systems innovators. Open to both masters and Ph.D. students, the DataFEWSion program offers a unique focus on data-rich systems modeling at the intersection of energy transformation, water management, and cropping and livestock systems.

Faculty members from industrial and manufacturing systems engineering, agricultural and biosystems engineering, aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, agronomy, economics, sociology and natural resource ecology and management will come together to prepare students for careers in research, policy making and bioeconomy entrepreneurship.

“Iowa State is a land grant university with a longtime strength in both agriculture and engineering – and valuable collaborations among experts in different aspects of FEW systems. It makes Iowa State the place to be if students are interested in any type of FEW career,” said Sarah Ryan, Joseph Walkup Professor in Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, who leads the DataFEWSion program. “We’re looking forward to our first cohort of students starting this valuable interdisciplinary experience in fall 2019.”